Lebanon remained us: The significant political role of Middle Eastern Minorities

Lebanon reminds us yet again that it is impossible to understand Middle East politics without understanding the great influence of minorities. The Western term “minorities,” implies something small and esoteric, however, the various religions, ethnic, and national communities are very influential within the majorities of their countries.

The two Gulf Wars introduced the world to the Sunni versus Shia conflict. Many people around the world understand that there is a significant divide in the Muslim world. We soon learned that this conflict has another layer, and that is the Persian-Arab conflict.

The war in Iraq created one more insight into the Middle East minorities and identity complex. The Kurdish question re-surfaced with all of its complications. The Kurds are mostly Sunni Muslims but also Shiite. They have their own language but also speak the languages of their neighbors, Turkish, Arabic, and Farsi, and they influence all of the countries where they live.

When ISIS rose to power in Iraq and Syria we rediscovered the ancient Christian communities in the Middle East. They were once the majority of their countries before the arrival of Islam. When modern nationalism arrived in the Middle East in the late 19^th century, Christian thinkers and political leaders played a major role in its creation.

ISIS also brought to our attention small religious communities like the Yazidis. This peaceful community who lived in the remote mountains of Syria and Iraq became the victim of gruesome crimes against humanity. Their men and elders were executed, the women were raped or sold as sex slaves and the boys were converted and recreated as child soldiers.

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Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel are home to the mystic Druze community. The tiny minority of 1.5 million had a dramatic political influence on the countries where it resides. The father and founder of modern Lebanon is Prince Facher Al-Din Al-Maani II, the Commander of the Syrian national rebellion against the French Sultan Al-Atrash, the first Jordanian Prime Minister and the Saudi Foreign Minister were all Druze.

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Syria is home to the Alawi community, ruling the republic for over 50 years. Syria is a predominantly Sunni Arab country with a variety of important ethnic and religious communities: Alwi, Druze, Christians, Ismailis, Kurds, and Bedouins. Understanding the social-political dynamics of the country is impossible without understanding the relationships between these different groups.

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Israel is a majority Jewish country that lives in a predominantly Sunni Muslim region. The father founders of Israel understood early on the diversity of the Middle East and tried to build coalitions on ethnic and religious bases. However, as it became a regional military power this approach was neglected.

Iran’s minorities are probably the least known in world news. The Farsi Shiites are a thin majority in this diverse country with a large Sunni community in Baluchistan, an Arab community on the Ahwas coast, Kurds and Azeris in the Northwest, and even small Jewish, Bahai, and Zoroastrian communities.

Finally, Lebanon, the most diverse country in the Middle East formalized its diversity in a political structure divided by religious sects. The president is Maonit Christian, the Prime minister is Sunni, the head of the Parliament is Shiite, and the military chief of staff is Druze.

All of this is just the basics. When we analyze a certain country in the Middle East, we need to zoom in to study the minorities and identities in its society. However, we need to immediately zoom out and look at which minorities in that country are majorities in neighboring countries and the nature of the cross-border relations between these communities.

This can explain the relationships between religious communities in Lebanon and their sponsor countries in the region and the emergence of organizations like ISIS, Hizballah, and Hamas They say in Lebanon that in times of crisis, The Shiites call Iran, the Sunnis call Saudi Arabia, the Christians call the French and only the Druze have no one to call so they change partners every week.

Only when we study all that, can we understand politics, identity, and society in the Middle East. Unfortunately, most people and news outlets follow political leaders and governments in the region and don’t understand the crucial influence of these minorities in their countries.